Judith A. Feeney

Attachment style as a predictor of adult romantic relationships.

Questionnaire measures of attachment style, attachment history, beliefs about relationships, self-esteem, limerence, loving, love addiction, and love styles were administered to 374 undergraduates. Attachment style was related in theoretically expected ways to attachment history and to beliefs about relationships. Securely attached Ss reported relatively positive perceptions of their early family relationships. Avoidant Ss were most likely to report childhood separation from their mother and to express mistrust of others. Anxious-ambivalent subjects were less likely than avoidant Ss to see their father as supportive, and they reported a lack of independence and a desire for deep commitment in relationships. The self-esteem measure and each of the scales measuring forms of love were factor analyzed separately. Analyses based on scale scores derived from the resulting factors indicated that attachment style was also strongly related to self-esteem and to the various forms of love discussed in other theoretical frameworks. The results suggest that attachment theory offers a useful perspective on adult love relationships.

Adult attachment, anxiety, and pain self-efficacy as predictors of pain intensity and disability

Abstract Pain self‐efficacy and anxiety have each been shown to contribute substantially to pain intensity and pain‐related disability. Although adult attachment theory has been related separately to chronic pain, anxiety, and self‐efficacy, it has not before been investigated with either pain self‐efficacy or anxiety in the context of chronic pain. This study investigated the interrelations between these aspects of the chronic pain experience and their relative contributions towards pain intensity and disability. A clinical sample of 152 chronic pain patients participated in this study, completing self‐report measures of attachment, self‐efficacy, pain intensity, and disability, prior to attending a multidisciplinary pain clinic. Results revealed that fearful and preoccupied (anxious) attachment categories were associated with low pain self‐efficacy, while high scores on the attachment dimension of comfort with closeness were linked with high pain self‐efficacy, particularly for males. Insecure attachment (whether defined in terms of categories or dimensions) was related to higher levels of anxiety. Pain self‐efficacy proved a stronger predictor of pain intensity than did anxiety and was a stronger predictor of disability than pain intensity or anxiety. In addition, comfort with closeness moderated the associations between pain self‐efficacy and disability, pain self‐efficacy and pain intensity, and anxiety and disability. Together, these findings support the value of adopting an attachment theoretical approach in the context of chronic pain. Treatment considerations and future research directions are considered.

Hurt Feelings in Couple Relationships: Towards Integrative Models of the Negative Effects of Hurtful Events

Previous research suggests that hurt feelings can have powerful effects on individual and relational outcomes. This study examined a typology of hurtful events in couple relationships, together with integrative models predicting ongoing effects on victims and relationships. Participants were 224 students from introductory and third-year psychology classes, who completed open-ended and structured measures concerning an event in which a partner had hurt their feelings. By tailoring Leary et al.’s (1998) typology to the context of romantic relationships, five categories of hurtful events were proposed: active disassociation, passive disassociation, criticism, infidelity, and deception. Analyses assessing similarities and differences among the categories confirmed the utility of the typology. Structural equation modeling showed that longer-term effects on the victim were predicted by relationship anxiety and by the victim’s immediate reactions to the event (negative emotions and self-perceptions; feelings of rejection and powerlessness). In contrast, ongoing effects on the relationship were predicted by avoidance, the victim’s attributions and perceptions of offender remorse, and the victim’s own behavior. The results highlight the utility of an integrated approach to hurt, incorporating emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses, and dimensions of attachment security.

A Longitudinal Study of Conflict in Early Marriage

Thirty-three couples were assessed in terms of their communication and relationship satisfaction, just before marriage and twice during the first 2 years, using questionnaire and interaction-based methods. There were few changes over time, except that couples lower in relationship satisfaction temporarily decreased their use of negative strategies and increased their use of positive strategies after 1 year. Spouses high in satisfaction after 2 years of marriage were less likely to manipulate the partner, to avoid dealing with conflict, to behave coercively and to engage in destructive patterns such as demand-withdraw. There were moderately strong effects of communication behaviours on concurrent relationship satisfaction. Communication behaviours predicted later satisfaction for wives only. Relationship satisfaction also predicted later communication behaviours for both husbands and wives, indicating a reciprocal relationship between these variables.

The relationship of adult attachment to emotion, catastrophizing, control, threshold and tolerance, in experimentally-induced pain.

Abstract Although insecure attachment has been associated with a range of variables linked with problematic adjustment to chronic pain, the causal direction of these relationships remains unclear. Adult attachment style is, theoretically, developmentally antecedent to cognitions, emotions and behaviours (and might therefore be expected to contribute to maladjustment). It can also be argued, however, that the experience of chronic pain increases attachment insecurity. This project examined this issue by determining associations between adult attachment characteristics, collected prior to an acute (coldpressor) pain experience, and a range of emotional, cognitive, pain tolerance, intensity and threshold variables collected during and after the coldpressor task. A convenience sample of 58 participants with no history of chronic pain was recruited. Results demonstrated that attachment anxiety was associated with lower pain thresholds; more stress, depression, and catastrophizing; diminished perceptions of control over pain; and diminished ability to decrease pain. Conversely, secure attachment was linked with lower levels of depression and catastrophizing, and more control over pain. Of particular interest were findings that attachment style moderated the effects of pain intensity on the tendency to catastrophize, such that insecurely attached individuals were more likely to catastrophize when reporting high pain intensity. This is the first study to link attachment with perceptions of pain in a pain‐free sample. These findings cast anxious attachment as a vulnerability factor for chronic pain following acute episodes of pain, while secure attachment may provide more resilience.

On the Dimensionality of the Attachment Style Questionnaire in Italian Clinical and Nonclinical Participants

This study examined the utility of the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) in an Italian sample of 487 consecutively admitted psychiatric participants and an independent sample of 605 nonclinical participants. Minimum average partial analysis of data from the psychiatric sample supported the hypothesized five-factor structure of the items; furthermore, multiple-group component analysis showed that this fivefactor structure was not an artifact of differences in item distributions. The five-factor structure of the ASQ was largely replicated in the nonclinical sample. Furthermore, in both psychiatric and nonclinical samples, a two-factor higher order structure of the ASQ scales was observed. The higher order factors of Avoidance and Anxious Attachment showed meaningful relations with scales assessing parental bonding, but were not redundant with these scales. Multivariate normal mixture analysis supported the hypothesis that adult attachment patterns, as measured by the ASQ, are best considered as dimensional constructs.

Adult attachment variables predict depression before and after treatment for chronic pain.

The complex relationship between chronic pain and depression has long been of clinical and empirical interest. Although attachment theory has been described as a “theory of affect regulation”, and has been lauded as a developmental framework for chronic pain, surprisingly little research specifically considers the links between adult attachment variables and pain‐related depression. A sample of 99 participants with chronic pain of non‐cancer origin was evaluated before and after pain rehabilitation. Results demonstrated that two attachment dimensions (comfort with closeness and relationship anxiety) were related to pre‐ and post‐treatment depression. Of particular interest was the finding that comfort with closeness was the unique predictor of lower levels of post‐treatment depression, usurping pain intensity and pre‐treatment depression. These results are discussed in terms of clinical implications, and suggest that adult attachment theory may prove a valuable perspective in pain treatment programs.

Evidence of a relationship between adult attachment variables and appraisals of chronic pain

OBJECTIVE Although threat and challenge appraisals of pain have been linked to both the acute and laboratory-induced pain experience, these appraisals have not yet been explored in relation to chronic pain. In addition, although attachment theory has been separately linked to the chronic pain experience and to responses to perceived threat, it has not been explored in the context of threat and challenge appraisals of chronic pain. The present paper addresses these two main goals. METHODS A sample of 141 participants reporting noncancer pain longer than two months in duration completed a battery of assessments before commencing treatment in one of two multidisciplinary rehabilitation programs. RESULTS Analysis of the pain appraisal inventory produced two factors (threat and challenge), replicating earlier findings. Reliability coefficients for the two extracted scales were 0.87 and 0.86, respectively. Links between the two pain appraisal scales and adult attachment variables proved to be significant. In particular, comfort with closeness was strongly related to challenge appraisal, while anxiety over relationships was strongly associated with threat appraisal. As expected, both appraisals and attachment variables were also related to catastrophizing and emotional distress. CONCLUSIONS Results support use of the pain appraisal inventory as an evaluation tool for those with chronic pain. Findings further suggest a substantial association between adult attachment and pain appraisal, supporting the need for more in-depth analysis and consideration of implications for treatment.

Relationship History and Relationship Attitudes in Gay Males and Lesbians: Attachment Style and Gender Differences

Objective: The objective of the present study was to assess the applicability of attachment theory to the relationships of gay males and lesbians, with particular emphasis on parental relationships, relationship satisfaction, sexual attitudes and ‘coming out’ as being homosexual. Methods: Gay males (n = 77) and lesbians (n = 100) completed questionnaires assessing attachment style, working models of attachment, early relationships with parents and relationship history, status and functioning. A comparison sample of heterosexual participants completed measures of attachment style and relationship history. Results: Relative frequencies of attachment styles were similar for homosexual and heterosexual samples. Contrary to previous research using largely heterosexual respondents, no link between early parenting and attachment style was found. However, homosexual males reported more positive early relationships with mothers than did females. Associations of attachment style with working models, relationship variables and sexual attitudes largely supported those based on heterosexual samples. Gender and attachment style differences were found in reported effects of ‘coming out’ on relationships with parents. Conclusions: Overall, the results suggest that insecure attachment may not be over-represented in gay and lesbian samples, but that insecurity is associated with less relationship satisfaction and with problems related to the disclosure of sexual orientation. The implications of these findings for research and clinical practice are addressed.

Personality Disorders And Adult Attachment Dimensions In A Mixed Psychiatric Sample: A Multivariate Study

The associations between personality disorders and adult attachment dimensions were assessed in a sample of 487 consecutively admitted psychiatric subjects. Canonical correlation analysis showed that two sets of moderately correlated canonical variates explained the correlations between personality disorders and adult attachment patterns. The first and second attachment variates closely resembled the avoidance and anxiety attachment dimensions, respectively. The first personality disorder variate was mainly characterized by avoidant, depressive, paranoid, and schizotypal personality disorders, whereas dependent, histrionic, and borderline personality disorders loaded on the second canonical variate. However, these linear combinations of personality disorders were different from those obtained from principal component analysis. The results extend previous studies linking personality disorders and attachment patterns and suggest the importance of focusing on specific constellations of symptoms associated with dimensions of insecurity.